It's true, there is something even more important than your communication skills. (I know, sounds funny coming from someone who specializes in conscious and unconscious communication.) Let me share that most important skill.
First, imagine the scene: our intrepid communicator, as skilled as any who walked the Earth before, steps up to the lectern in a large amphitheater.
It is silent for a moment and he begins telling stories. Our presenter has every person in the room focused on the words, the motions, and most importantly, the emotions as imagined while practicing the speech.
Fifty-nine minutes later the speaker closes with the most compelling call to action since Dr. King and JFK combined. There is a moment of silence, and then ...
Nothing.
What happened? What was missing from this scene?
The amphitheater was empty. Not a seat was filled.
Audience trumps communication skills!
Which brings us around to the original point. The second most important: communication skills. The most important skill is making sure the audience is there -- and that it is the right audience for the message!
President Obama, while campaigning, certainly spent time with grade school children. He did not, however, give them the same State of the Union type address he shared for the television cameras during prime-time.
So, what does this have to do with entrepreneurs? Focusing on one or the other of these two, communication skills or finding a suitable audience, must be accompanied by the other!
The worlds greatest advertisement does no good on the dark side of the moon. And if you have the attention of all the fans during half-time at the Superbowl you'd better have your skill in communication at its finest if you're going to take advantage of that audience.
Right Audience + Communication Skills
As a lifelong learner, I take many opportunities to hone my skill in communicating and at gathering an appropriate crowd. Over the course of July and August we have the chance to learn directly from a man who is a master at collecting audiences and a master at delivering focused communications that produce very specific actions: Marlon Sanders.
In case you don't know, Marlon has documented that at one point he had 1 in 102 people with an Internet connection visit one of his web sites. Those same web sites produced millions in sales from his ability to communicate with that audience and produce the actions he intended. He shares some of his wisdom on what's new in 2010 in this video.
I'd love for you to join me in learning from someone who is, ahem, an "old timer" that is still getting things done. Choose your exemplars for modeling carefully. I am choosing Marlon.
For those who choose to join me in this program, I'm putting together a "study group" or "mastermind" to leverage all of my NLP Training to keep the group motivated to implement the plans created from Marlon's knowledge.
Check out Marlon's 6-week Round Table and see if it makes sense for you, now, to learn more about sales-related communication skills and getting in front of the right audience!